Cigarette lighter



Patented July 12, 1949 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE CIGARETTE LIGHTER Charles N.` Coryell, New Rochelle, N. Y.; Frances Coryell,

Coryell,` deceased, assigner to New Rochelle, N. Y.`

ad-ministratrix of said Charles N.

Robert lL. Coryell,4

ApplcationAugust 9, i945', Serial No. 609,779

(Cl. {V7- 7.1)

lighter unit in such manner that by removing thecover the lighter unit automatically advances out of the casing to such position that the lighter wheel may be operated. The. covermay be used to retract the lighterunit. within its case to provde a compartment, protected` from. thewind, in which the cigarette mightbe inserted for lighting. Replacement of the cover on the caseautomatically retracts the lighter unit and snuls out the name.

The invention also consists in certain newV and original features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and` claimed.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this inventionI will be par` ticularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself, asl to. its objects and advantages, and the m'anner iny which it may be carried out, may be better` understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a, front elevationiorthelighter according to the invention,` in closed position;

Fig; 2 is a sideelevati'onof'tlielighter in closed.

position;

Fig. 3 is a frontelevationoffthezlighter in fully open position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section on the line' -ofFigz 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged verticalfsection on the line 5 5 of Fig; 4;

Figs. 6 and '1` aretransversefsections on the line @-6 and 'l-'I respectively of` Eig. 4; and

Fig; 8 is an enlarged verticalsection, with the lighting unit advancedu in oneposition inwhich it may be used in practice.

In the following description and in the claims, various details will be identified by specic names for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application as the art will permit.

Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, certain specific disclosure of the invention is made for purposes of explanation, but it will be understood that the details may be modified in various respects without departure from the broad aspect of the invention.

Referring new to the drawings, the lighter com-` prises in general a tubular case Ill, lighter unit I I slidable therein, and` removable4 cover I 2. The cover is shown in closed position in Figs. 1 and 2. The lighter may be moved' to open position simply by swinging open the cover and: sliding it down to the position indicated in Fig. 3 or 8, as will` be apparent from the following. description.

IThe case It may comprise two halves or sections I3 and It which may be of suitable molded material, such as plastic. These halves are heldV band I5 having an in-v and a bottom closed cup I5` surrounds a re.-V duced portion I 8 which forms a shoulder with` together by a top annular turned rounded edge It il. The top band or collar the body of the casing halvesY I3 and I4. The bottom cup I? surrounds a reduced. portionv I8 which also forms a shoulder with the' casing halves. These top and bottom bands I5 and I'I are held in position by a tight t with. the casingl halves I3, It, or by cement, or in` any suitable manner, to make in elect an integral operating unit of the two casing halves I3 and III and the.

top and bottom bands I5 and. I'I.

The case I il may be of any suitable or desirable shape. In the form shown.y the: interior is generally oval while the exterior is octagonal in transverse cross section.

As part of the operating'mechanism wherebyy the movement of the cap I2 operates the `lighter unit II, the casing halves I3, I4? have straight channels 22 and 23 on either side molded therein and curved channels 2li at the bottom, these channels being formed both casing halves and complementing each other to form a bandway for ilexibleoperating band 45. The outer wall of the case Il)` has shallow pinway '25 and a deeper pin-wayA 26 also formed inv both casing halves.

The lighter unit Ii comprises an upper body member 29 having a reduced tubular extension 30=on which is mountedfa removableibottom' member 3l. Body 29 and bottom member 3| provide a hollow casing in which is disposed suitable absorbent material 33 for holding the lighter fluid, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

The lighter body 29 also supports the usual wick 3ft, ribbed wheel 35 and rod 35. As is well understood, when the Wheel is rotated by the finger, its rubbing action against the rod 36 generates a shower of sparks which ignites wick 34.

The cover l2 comprises a crowned cap 40 having depending arms 4| and 42. Arm 4I has an in the meeting faces oi.`

indented portion forming a short pintle 43 which rides in shallow pin-way 25. Arm 42 has an opening which receives long pin M- which rides in deep pin-way 26 and which is rigidly secured to the end of operating band 55. The other end of operating band l5 has rigidly secured thereto a pin 46 positioned in hole 32 in removable lighter bottom 3l.

rihe under surface of cap 4t is rounded to cooperate with the rounded inturned edges l of top band l5. The pintles i3 and it are so located with respect to top band l5 that the cover 4U resiliently seats on the open top of case It. However, the cap l2 may be rotated about its pintles, with application of slight pressure by the thumb, to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 5 after which it may be slid down the outside of the casing with the pintles 43, lll riding in grooves 25, 26. This movement causes the operating band 45 to slide in bandways 22, 23, 24 pushing the lighter unit Il upwardly until, when Ythe cover i2 takes a position near the lower end of the case as indicated in Figure 3, the lighter unit il is projected pretty well out of the casing.

f Ordinarily it is sufficient to project the lighter unit il only out to some position such as in dicated in Figure 8 where it is convenient to twirl the wheel 35 by the thumb to ignite wick 3d. The cigarette may be lighted immediately with the lighting unit in this position or, if there isa high wind blowing, the lighter unit may be reu tracted to a position partly within the case itl where the flame is protected from the wind and the cigarette may be inserted into the case to light it. Figure 5 indicates rsuch a position of the lighter unit, the open position oi the cover i2 being indicated by dot-and--dashl lines.

The lighter is closed by slidably moving the cover i2 back up to the top of the case and rotating it to closed position, which action will snuff out the lighter if it has not already been blown out by the user.

'lo replenish the lighter with fuel, the lighting unit Il will be advanced all the way out to the position shown in Figure 3. In this position the lighter body 29 may be easily removed from the bottom cover 3l, which it engages telescopically with a snug friction fit. The lighter body 29 will be exposed at its lower end and the absorbent material 33 carried thereby will then be saturated with the usual lighter fluid after which the lighter body 29 will be replaced by inserting it into the 'bottom cover 3 I.

Thus a cigarette lighter is provided which is inexpensive to manufacture and most convenient and safe to use. It is opened and advanced by a simple rotative and sliding movement of the cover by the thumb and closed the same way. lThe lighter wheel can be spun by the same thumb that opens the cover so that the lighter may be opened, lighted, used and closed in a single manipulation of the iingers of one hand. The cover is always attached so it cannot get lost and is available for automatically snuling out the 4 lighter when the lighter is closed. The ability to retract the lighter within the lighter body before completely closing facilitates lighting a cigarette in high winds. The U-shaped band and bandway insures ease of operation. The plastic case halves and top and bottom rings facilitates manufacture of the case.

While certain novel features of the invention have been disclosed herein, and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it Will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cigarette lighter, a case, a cap for said case, a lighter unit slidable within said case, said case-having a U-shaped bandway, a band in said bandway having one end connected to said unit and the other end connected to said cap whereby opening movement of said cap advances said unit, said unit being retractible within said case while said cover remains open to protect the lighter flame by the surrounding case wall.

2. A cigarette lighter comprising a case having a U-shaped bandway, a lighter unit in said case, a band in said bandway, said case having longitudinal pin-ways, a cap having a top wall with depending arms, one arm having a pivot riding in one pin-way, the other arm having a pivot riding in said other pin-Way and connected to one end oi said band, the other end of said band being connected to said lighter unit.

3. A cigarette lighter comprising a case, a lighter unit 'slidable Within said case, saidcase having two longitudinally separable sections, a lower cap and an upper collar both snugly surrounding said sections to hold the same together, said ysections at their meeting edges having a U- shaped bandway, a band in said bandway, said sections having at their meeting edges an external shallow pin-way and an external deep pin-way, a cap having a top wall with depending arms, one arm having a pivot riding in said shallow pin-way, the other arm having a pivot riding in said deep pin-way and connected to one end of said band, the other end of said band being connected to said lighter unit.

CHARLES N. CORYELL.

REFERENCES CITED .The following references are of record in the file'of this patent:

UNITED 'STATES PATENTS 

